Back to School: Return to the Classroom Offers Great Opportunities for the Child Who Stutters

Memphis, Tenn. (June 21, 2021) – “Returning to the classroom for the 2021-22 academic year and moving away from remote learning through video and audio instruction offers an excellent opportunity for children who stutter,” says Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation. “Getting back to school and talking in person with their school speech-language pathologists, teachers and friends, is so important for all children, but even more so for kids who stutter.”

During a recent Stuttering Foundation workshop for speech-language pathologists focused specifically on working with children who stutter, participants felt there had been an increase in stuttering among their patients.

“More than a year of remote instruction, in many cases, has left the child who stutters talking less, engaging classmates and teachers less, with fewer opportunities to raise their hand and share their voice,” added Fraser. “Fears may increase over time if difficult situations—like answering questions or making a presentation—are not faced each day. It’s time to break that cycle.”

Conquering fears at a young age is critical for adolescents facing adversity. “When we talk to adults about how they have managed personal or professional success despite a lifetime of stuttering, the common thread is their ability to confront the fears early on, in grade school, often times with the help of a caring teacher or therapist,” said Fraser.

Experts are optimistic that the return to in-person instruction will help students who struggle with stuttering. “The more we talk, the more confidence we build in our ability to do so. Returning to the classroom offers all students the greatest chance to communicate fully and effectively.”

About the Stuttering Foundation

Malcolm Fraser, a successful businessman who struggled with stuttering, established and endowed the nonprofit Stuttering Foundation in 1947. The Foundation provides free online resources at StutteringHelp.org for people who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering. For more information, visit www.StutteringHelp.org.

Hide on More News:

Hide

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Winston Churchill

Seeking to "remove Winston Churchill's stutter by second guessing the diagnosis" indicates neither a truthful retelling of history nor an informed opinion about a complex speech disorder, say experts in the field of speech-language pathology.

Recent news reports that quote Dr. John Mather, a Washington physician, as saying that Churchill's stutter "is a lie" brought adamant critical response from specialists in the field of stuttering and fluency disorders.

James Earl Jones

Actor James Earl Jones, a Broadway, television and movie star, is well-known for his voice as Darth Vader in Star Wars and his book Voices and Silences. Jones has spoken some of the most memorable lines in the history of American film, but the man known for his voice was once afflicted with a severe stutter.

John Stossel

John Stossel is one of the most recognized and articulate reporters today. However, he once considered giving up his broadcasting career because of his stuttering.

“Fear of stuttering can easily become worse than the stuttering itself,” observed Stossel. “The idea that I’m on television and making speeches is still a shock to me sometimes.”

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.

King George

In November 2010, worldwide movie audiences were presented with a most interesting and unusual movie release with The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth as King George VI and Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Elizabeth.

Unfortunately, history may have forgotten the courageous and inspiring story of Prince Albert who stuttered badly and never dreamed that he would ever be king when his older brother, King Edward VIII, abruptly abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee.